Various media hosting web sites provide methods for users to comment on the media content hosted by the websites. For example, news publications, blogging sites, video and audio content providers typically provide a “comment” option. A visitor to the site who wishes to comment on a story or other posted media content can generally select a “comment” or “feedback” link, and post textual comments for other visitors of the site to view.
User comments can indicate user opinion or sentiment about the media content. For example, users may provide comments expressing sentiment about the entertainment value and/or expressing sentiment about how informative, intelligent or accurate the media content is. The sentiment provided in the comments (e.g., how funny the media content is) may be viewed by other users of the media hosting website in order to determine whether the media content appeals to them. However, to assess the overall sentiment or opinion regarding particular media content a user must read all of the comments about it. Due to the large volume of comments posted by viewers, reading all comments associated with the media content may be time-consuming and make it difficult for a user to assess overall sentiment expressed therein. Accordingly, there is a need for a way to identify user sentiment expressed within comments associated with media content.